Analysts Set The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) Target Price at $147.06

The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $148.00.

CLX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Clorox in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America upgraded Clorox from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $120.00 to $150.00 in a report on Friday, December 15th. Barclays upped their price objective on Clorox from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $162.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Clorox from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd.

Clorox Trading Down 2.0 %

CLX traded down $2.96 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $148.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,226,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,246,361. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $151.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.37, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $18.45 billion, a PE ratio of 236.05, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.43. Clorox has a twelve month low of $114.68 and a twelve month high of $178.21.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $1.08. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Clorox had a return on equity of 319.41% and a net margin of 1.09%. Clorox's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Clorox will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. Clorox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 761.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clorox

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLX. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Clorox by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,320 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,157,000 after buying an additional 1,269 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its position in Clorox by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 16,465 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,289,000 after buying an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its position in Clorox by 276.6% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 9,318 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,295,000 after buying an additional 6,844 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Clorox by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 683,818 shares of the company's stock valued at $95,073,000 after buying an additional 5,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in Clorox by 81.1% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 24,525 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,410,000 after buying an additional 10,981 shares during the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Clorox

The Clorox Company manufactures and markets consumer and professional products worldwide. It operates through four segments: Health and Wellness, Household, Lifestyle, and International. The Health and Wellness segment offers cleaning products, such as laundry additives and home care products primarily under the Clorox, Clorox2, Scentiva, Pine-Sol, Liquid-Plumr, Tilex, and Formula 409 brands; professional cleaning and disinfecting products under the CloroxPro and Clorox Healthcare brands; professional food service products under the Hidden Valley brand; and vitamins, minerals and supplement products under the RenewLife, Natural Vitality, NeoCell, and Rainbow Light brands in the United States.